The Society for Planet Prosperity (SPP), in collaboration with the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike (AE-FUNAI) Centre for Climate Change and Development (CCCD) and Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative (GECCI), is hosting a virtual workshop for stakeholders in the environment and climate change sector.
The virtual workshop, entitled “Understanding and Implementation of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act: Implications for Nigeria’s Net Zero Target”, is aimed at engaging the leaders of civil society and non-governmental organisations in the country.
The aim of the workshop is to gain knowledge, share ideas and provide insights on the role and involvement of CSOs in implementing the core provisions of the Nigeria Climate Change Act and open conversations on how to ensure public understanding of the climate change law.
Speaking on the upcoming workshop, the Chair of Society for Planet Prosperity and Director, CCCD AEFUNAI, Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, said that the forthcoming virtual workshop would bring together leaders of about 50 CSOs and NGOs to discuss on how to assist the government in implementing the core provisions of the Climate Change Act and increase public awareness of the climate change law.
He stated that the workshop would bring together the leaders to inform and analyse the Act, to aid better understanding, as well as to examine the state of affairs since the passing of the Climate Change Act. According to Professor Okereke, the event would generate ideas that the CSOs and the Nigerian Government could use to increase public awareness and implementation of the Climate Change Act, as well as generating ideas that would be documented and submitted to appropriate and relevant government agencies for actions and implementations.
The workshop, which is scheduled hold on Thursday, July 14, 2022, will feature Barr. Nkiruka Stella Okonkwo, the CEO and founder, Fresh and Young Brains Development Initiative; Nnaemeka Oruh, Ag. National Coordinator, GLOBE as speakers, while Professor Okereke is the host and will moderate the session. The Director, Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs Iniobong Abiola-Awe, will deliver the opening remarks.
It will be recalled that, in November 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Nigeria Climate Change Act, which provides a solid framework for climate actions at the national level.
Nigeria’s 2021 Climate Change Act provides for an ambitious framework for mainstreaming climate actions in line with national development priorities and sets a net-zero target for 2050-2070.
However, despite the signing of the bill into law and the promises the provisions of the law have to coordinate and ensure climate action in Nigeria, the government and relevant stakeholders have not taken any known steps to implement the basic provisions of the Act, such as setting up the National Council on Climate Change several months after the signing of the act into law.
By Chinedu Nwasum (cccd@funai.edu.ng)
